Soldiers of Action
by Tumarbar Arranoilis
Summary: Three youths volunteer in the fight against the Nazi Germans in WWII... Renovation is ongoing, actual will be published later.
1. Commeration

Prologue: Commeration  
  
The sun sunk beyond the horizon, giving off brilliant rays of golden sunlight. An old man with a wrinkled face and dreary eyes strolled into the cemetery along with his family, which was about to learn about the past by him. The old man was none other than old Hawkins himself, a man who lived to tell the story... He walked towards the tombstones of his two childhood friends - Jim and Leonard, his comrades during the World War II.  
  
Old Hawkins started to mutter to his family," These two old pals here sure did let me know how precious life is." And soon memories of his past begin to flash through his mind as though something had sparked them back to life. His family also joined him to listen to his tale. 


	2. The Chosen Fate

Chapter 1: The Chosen Fate  
  
The sun rose up high and proud .The cockerel gave out its usual shrill cry; three teenagers, Hawkins, Jim and Leonard were striding towards the temporally set up barracks to volunteer in the fight against the Nazis .In the barracks, there were two lieutenants at the desk .One of them, Lieutenant Neil eyed the trio with wide eyes and asked for their names. The three almost answered immediately when the lieutenant finished his question. Impressed, the lieutenant gave a nod to the teens' relief.  
  
The next day, each of the three teens bid farewell to their individual families, then proceeded to the barracks after reuniting at the church. The officers did a check though a name list, and then waved them through. Before walking through the barbed checkpoint, Hawkins turned and took a last glimpse of his hometown, sighed and went to collect uniforms along with his friends.  
  
The first day of training began, and it could be considered as very tough: Crawling across barbed wire, chin-ups, long-distance marches, and many more. Two days later, while having breakfast at the canteen, Jim accidentally knocked into a well-built person whose name was Rick, causing his food to be splattered on his newly-washed uniform. Infuriated, Rick grabbed Jim by the collar and gave a low and menacing growl, Jim soon felt something heavy on his stomach which made him grimace in pain he also saw a lanky person joining Rick, his name is Joe, a person with a rather cunning character .Soon the whole thing evolved into a fist fight when Leonard joined in the fight against Rick's side. Hawkins desperately attempted to separate the two groups, which were like two lions but to no avail. During the fight a familiar voice hollered, "Stop the fight! Now come here at once!" The five teens, including the crowd, which formed a circle during the fight, turned around to see Lieutenant Neil standing behind them. The crowds separated into two, letting the lieutenant see the bruised bodies of the five in the fistfight. "Well if all of you are having a 'meeting', why not have another at the court, at 1400 hours sharp." And that is how the rivalry between Jim and Rick was born.  
  
As you can see, the "meeting" means either "fight" or "punishment". That day at 4pm, the five reported at the court .The punishment- stand rooted to the ground with both hands holding up one's rifle for 10 hours. At the court, both Jim and Leonard tried to apologize to Hawkins who was looking away in anger. "Look, Hawkins, we didn't mean to be so brutal, we're .real sorry. Still friends eh?" Hawkins thought it over and decided to reconcile with his buddies again. During the punishment, Hawkins almost fell to the ground of dehydration. The five were called back after 10 hours, Hawkins was immediately sent to the sick bay thanks to Lieutenant Neil's kindness.  
  
A day later, Hawkins recovered and the whole brigade was assembled at the court during the roll call to be separated into different infantry type. Leonard, Jim and Hawkins were lucky enough to be selected as engineers and also in the same company. To their dismay, Rick and Joe were also in the same company. 


	3. Omaha Beach

Chapter 2: Omaha Beach  
  
The recruits were assembled and were in full military gear. Brigadier General Thompson was standing at a platform, giving a briefing. "Well, soldiers, I'm very grateful that you all have volunteered to fight against the Nazis. Now, let us be serious, we are all going to assault Omaha Beach, we shall either emerge victorious or die in glory. All of you are going to arrive there in1100 hours. First, you will proceed to Fort Shanks by convoy truck, and then barges will come to pick you there. I hereby bid you all the best of luck and God bless you all.  
  
The recruits boarded the trucks; some already had the expression of listlessness, knowing that the truck and barge were going to send them to their death. Hawkins, Jim and Leonard felt mighty uncomfortable being the only engineers in their company, and especially with Rick and Joe sitting at a corner, poking fun on them.  
  
In 6 hours, Fort Shanks came into view. Some were already regretting that they volunteered. The reason- they might rather stay at their comfortable homes and enjoy a cup of tea rather than being blown to bits. The recruits went aboard the barges with each company led by a field commander. The "boat trip" was slow and steady; the barges rocked slowly and steadily with a rhythm. A recruit who volunteered much later than Hawkins and company was so nervous that he dropped his rifle, which fired, to the sky, causing many other panicky soldiers to fire wildly, resulting in chaos. Hawkins was staring at someone, not the one who dropped the rifle, but a man in his 30's with a content look. The man, known as Simon looked up and saw Hawkins peering curiously at him. He smiled and said, "I know that death is fated. Don't see why there's a need to worry about." Hawkins knew by that man's accent that he is the French pastor who lives at the church.  
  
Having someone to talk to, Hawkins introduced himself and his friends to Simon because they too had also noticed his content look. And soon they talked about Christianity and many other things like bosom friends. But someone's shrieking interrupted the conversation, "We're closing the beach! We're closing the beach! Prepare yourselves! Load your guns, put on your helmets!" The barges stopped and doors were opened, slapping the seawater below them. Soon the Nazis started firing their machine guns, aiming at the entrance first a shower of blood came falling down and some soldiers had slumped to the ground dead. Some fell into the sea and drenched it with blood. A couple of soldiers managed to set foot on the beach but were dismembered by the mortar.  
  
Soon, everyone was covered by surf, sand, heat and fear. Jim shut his eyes on seeing two medics pulling a soldier whose legs were torn apart; trails of blood could be sighted oozing from that soldier's missing limbs. The same panicky soldier was running as if he was mad, tripped on a stone, fell and fired another accidental shot, miraculously, it was a head shot on one of the German machine gunners in a bunker, who shrieked and fell off the bunker to his death. A handful of soldiers were lucky enough to go behind enemy lines. Among some of the lucky ones were a flamethrower, a sniper, and a handful of novice riflemen and of course, Hawkins, Simon and company.  
  
The sniper successfully downed a couple of German soldiers while the flamethrower set some poor soldiers ablaze. At the entrance of the bunkers, a sergeant lobbed in a grenade and some soldiers inside were killed when it exploded. The flamethrower gave out a long stream of fire into the bunker, burning the machine gunners inside to death.  
  
But in the excitement, a German standing behind Simon aimed for his last shot. Leonard sighted him and yelled, "Simon! Watch out!" But it was too late. Simon jerked, touched the area where it felt numb. The pastor gave a silly smile and then crumpled to the ground.  
  
"No!!!" Tears came streaming down Jim's blood-soaked face .He grit his teeth and picked up Simon's rifle and fired several rounds at the German who was laughing insanely. Although the German was already lying on the ground dead, Jim kept on reloading Simon's rifle and shooting them into the German's body. Jim wished that he had the flamethrower to incinerate the German. Hawkins put his hand on Jim's shoulder .Jim dropped his rifle and knelt down in front of Simon's body, he searched his body for anything Simon left behind and took out a letter which Simon wanted to send to his family in France .Jim could not understand what it read because it was in French.  
  
After many tedious hours of fighting, the Americans finally captured Omaha Beach, but there were many casualties. A soldier was seen picking up his own arm; the sandy white beach was totally drenched with blood.  
  
The American flag was raised when the German one was taken down. Camps were erected near the beach. Leonard suffered a broken arm when he fell into a hole when a grenade exploded earlier on .Jim resembled a Sikh with the bandage around his head and Hawkins hardly could move with one of his legs totally bandaged. The worst one was Rick who looked like a mummy when he had almost the whole of his body burnt by another flamethrower, who was blinded by an exploded mortar's shell. Joe suffered only minor burns as he was next to Rick. 


	4. Reconnaissance

Chapter 3: Reconnaissance  
  
A couple of weeks later, almost everyone has recovered. A handful of soldiers who had major injuries were sent back for hospitalization .Jim was still unhappy about the bandage he had earlier .The 143 lieutenants, sergeants, corporals and a handful of privates which were the first to break through the defensive lines and wiped out nearly all the machine gunners earlier were called to Brigadier General Thompson where they were commended by him personally for their bravery and got promoted to sergeants, you should see how proud Jim was when his rank was higher than Rick's.  
  
The brigadier general soon assigned the group a new mission .The objective was to reconnoiter a town where no one had gone. So in the afternoon, the group, newly named the 95th "Zippy" Company set off from foot .Jim was still beaming when he saw Rick's jealous expression. Half a kilometer away from camp, the company walked through a field full of dandelions. A butterfly touched on Leonard's nose and he turned both eyes to focus on his nose and see what creature of all places would land on his nose. Suddenly, Isaac, the flamethrower, spotted something- a German tracked vehicle. He warned the others about it and in a split second, the company was in a prone position. Every chug the tracked vehicle made, the more prepared were the soldiers. When opportunity came, the field commander, Lieutenant Neil, shouted, "Open fire!" The Nazis were taken aback by surprise and had little time to retaliate. Neil shucked in a grenade into the cockpit and legged for it. Boom. The tracked vehicle had exploded, killing those within its radius; the company took down the survivors.  
  
At 5pm the company reached a town where a firefight was going on. They took cover in an abandoned house where they met another company that was engaging the Nazis. "Flash!" hollered Hawkins, "Flash or I'll shoot!" "Thunder." came a distant voice, "Come on!" Hawkins waved the company through; they advanced by 3 persons per 45 seconds. They joined the 78th company and dashed through the town, shooting some Nazis down on the way. When Isaac was about to advance, he heard a soft cry, it was a girl calling for her mother. He looked upwards and spotted the girl along with her parents stranded on the second floor of their apartment as the only staircase was destroyed due to the American bombings. Isaac slung his rifle and asked some comrades to help the small family down the half-destroyed building. The parents thanked Isaac repeatedly and were told to follow the company until they were escorted out of the town. Sadly, a German sniper had a head shot and it got Isaac whose mind swirled into darkness.  
  
The family, after minutes of scampering along with the companies, finally had freedom from their war-waged hometown. The field commander of the 78th company thanked the 95th company for their assistance and soon went back into the town to wipe out the rest of the Nazis. After directing the family how to go to the American camps where they could seek refuge, the 95th company went on to the town where they were supposed to explore. 


	5. Days of Imprisonment

Chapter 4: Days of Imprisonment  
  
"We're here!" Lieutenant Neil huffed out when they had finished scaling the last steep slope. "Keep those eyes open, you might never know when one of those Nazis who might be in there put a bullet into your bodies." The 95th company entered the town with extreme caution where there was hardly a soul there.  
  
"Drop gun! Drop gun!" Someone with a heavy German accent cried. Nazis emerged from their hiding places and there were sounds of rifles being loaded. The 95th company dropped all their weapons and raised their hands high up in the air without a fight because they knew they were outnumbered and also surrounded. The Nazis walked cautiously towards the company to retain their weapons with their rifles pointed towards their new prisoners.  
  
Soon Leonard and friends found themselves being threatened by the German bayonets and being led to a German prison. One of their comrades who was weakened by the sun's scorching rays fell to the ground and was hit hard by a German's rifle stock. Blood was flowing down his bloodied forehead; Leonard helped the pitiful soldier by carrying him on his back. After a few minutes' walk, they reached the German prison, which loomed ahead of them. It was surrounded with unattended fields, which were full of weeds. Leonard, knowing a little German, told the others that it was a former warehouse by reading the faded signboard.  
  
The group was locked in cells; 5 prisoners in each cell and mind, the place smelt of urine of other prisoners who were here way earlier than the group did. The metal doors clanked when they were closed. Leonard felt a bit regretful of volunteering the fight but Jim kept up his spirits when they talked about their childhood times. Lieutenant Neil began to tell Hawkins about his huge family, his role as a breadwinner and "The Ways of Life". A soldier, McLain, made the German guards fed up by singing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" off key, forcing them to stuff a big handkerchief into his mouth.  
  
Minutes later, a German opened the cell door which held Jim, Leonard, Hawkins, Lieutenant Neil and the weak soldier who was feeling better. The German beckoned to Lieutenant Neil after extracting information that he was the field commander by torturing a soldier from a cell beside theirs. Jim tried to stop Neil but he said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine." But what he said is a stark contrast to what the Nazis did to him. It is not known what they asked him and how they tortured him as Hawkins heard him groan and cry in pain.  
  
The whole company was terribly saddened when they were informed that Lieutenant Neil was to be executed at dawn. At the time of Lieutenant Neil's execution, the company, whose cells they were in were facing the execution grounds with windows, witnessed the execution of their respected lieutenant. They saw the riflemen take aim at the lieutenant who refused to give information about the American camps, some were in a crouching sniper- like position and others were standing upright. "Bang." The honorable lieutenant surprisingly stood still until he was hit by one of the German rifleman's stock. The company got the message even though the lieutenant did not even utter a word. The message- "Even when things are negative, you still must fight on to live, no matter what they do to you."  
  
A few soldiers whispered in chorus, "We will still remember you, no matter how long time passes, we will fight." And so the company discussed how to escape the prison. Messages were passed from one cell to the other and it went smoothly as their cells were aligned and all the soldiers nodded to each other, and they are in action.  
  
The soldiers began to run around inside their cells and yelled like mad. And with the plan the German guards opened the first cell door to give the soldiers a good beating, but they were eventually being beaten, even before any of them could fire with their rifles, they were already knocked off. The soldiers quickly took the guards' keys and opened the rest of the cell doors. Taking the three guards' rifles along with them, they ran out of the prison to run to their freedom. 


	6. Man Down!

Chapter 5: Man Down!  
  
The German patrol outside the prison had already detected the security breach and started to fire their two machine guns at the fleeing prisoners. They successfully downed a few Americans and Leonard was hit on the back with five bullets. Leonard cried in agony and fell to the ground. Hawkins carried him on his back, dodging dozens of bullets which came whizzing past. The pale face of Leonard showed that he has lost a lot of blood.  
  
Some armed German soldiers gave chase to the company. Some of the soldiers then hid behind an abandoned bunker and started firing towards their pursuers and killed all of them after an exchange of fire. After minutes of continuous dashing and crying, the American company finally arrived at the town, which they came earlier which was disturbingly silent. Suddenly, the same company they encountered earlier popped out from the derelict buildings.  
  
"What's with that look with that face?" asked the field commander of the 95th company.  
  
"We got a half-dead comrade in critical condition, our weapons were taken by the Nazis when we were captured and sent to a prison. Lieutenant Neil's dead. Later escaped, some men down. Got any medics here?"  
  
"All killed in action, but there's a medical convoy and reinforcements coming our way, maybe we can try to keep him alive as long as possible."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
The soldiers took the medical kits that belonged to the dead medics and bandaged Leonard's wound they did not have the apparatus to remove the bullets so Leonard lay on the ground in pain. Leonard suddenly snapped out of his pain and put his hands on both Hawkins and Jim's shoulders and said, "Don't worry about me. I do not think that I will not make it. Just do me a favor. If any or both of you survive, go to my family and give them this letter and don't give up when I have left you two alone." And with that' Leonard breathed his last, leaving behind his lifeless body, the letter, and his two greatly saddened childhood friends.  
  
And with that, the two friends stood back and gave a salute to their lifelong friend whom they will never forget.  
  
"The convoy's here, get him up the truck, the medics are ready." The field commander said as he went into the gloomy room.  
  
"It's too late. He's gone." Tears started to roll down Hawkins' dirty face. The field commander realized that, and also saluted to the soldier who died gloriously when he shielded his comrades when the machine gunners sprayed bullets at them when they fled. 


	7. Betrayed!

Chapter 6: Betrayed!  
  
"The soldiers from the assault from the nearby town and the reconnaissance team have arrived, sir." An officer reported as he opened the door to Brigadier General Thompson's office, only to gasp in shock when he saw the general slumped to the table with one of his arms outstretched and a massive river of blood flowing down the table covered with battle plans which were smeared with the brigadier general's blood.  
  
The officer ran away terrified to report the death of Brigadier General Thompson to another Brigadier General by the name of Marcus. The astonished general headed to the office of the dead general only to exclaim "Holy Smokes!" to see the general's bloodied balding head.  
  
A search was conducted for the possible murder weapon after the roll call. At the quarters earlier, Hawkins noticed Rick's unusual smile when he came into the quarters but left to look for Jim in the canteen before the roll call.  
  
A corporal entered Brigadier General Marcus's office where he was deep in thought. He handed a German revolver to the general and told him that it was found in Engineer Jim's quarters. The platoon in the quarters was called to the office to testify the case. Suddenly Private Rick replied, "Sir, I sighted him leaving the quarters, had a suspicious look on his face. Saw him being nervous at the canteen. Private Joe is with me then. You can ask him, he's the witness." "He's telling the truth, Sir." continued Joe sounding honest. Brigadier General Marcus glared at Jim and snarled, "Any objections, traitor?" Jim answered in disbelief, 'It couldn't be I didn't do it." Before Jim could finish his sentence, General Marcus hollered, "Enough, scumbag, traitor of America. You will be executed at dawn in front of the whole army. Dismissed."  
  
Hawkins was as astonished as Jim was, fifteen years being together and he did not see any evil in Jim. Jim's face was saddened as two soldiers escorted him to prison. "Don't worry, pal, I'll make sure that the truth is brought to light." Hawkins muttered under his breath. He glared at Rick and Joe who were smirking and felt suspicious of them and so he tailed them. They proceeded to the telephone booth and looked around to check if the coast is clear then took out a small radio and talked in a strange language, Hawkins listened carefully and made out some familiar words and thought about it. "Oh! It is the German language!" Hawkins thought. "Must make the others believe about it. But how? Maybe I can tell those lieutenants over there." He peered at the lieutenants seated at a table having a cup of coffee.  
  
"Sir you won't believe it, but you have to see this, follow me please."  
  
One of the lieutenants muttered, "Well, since we have nothing to do. We will follow you then." Only two of the lieutenants followed, while the others would rather sit back and relax than going on a possible wild goose chase.  
  
To Hawkins's relief, Rick and Joe were still at the same spot, talking to the radio. "You're not joking, they are speaking in German. We better report this to the Brigadier General, and fast." The lieutenant who muttered just now continued, "I only know a little German, but I can tell you that they were bribed to assassinate Brigadier General Thompson, and they will escape to the German side when the assault at our camp is about to start. I don't know the rest of the whole thing." 


	8. Death of The Traitors

Chapter 7: Death of The Traitors  
  
And then the three dashed to report the surprising news. Brigadier General Marcus stammered, "It could not be... We'll search their quarters and then arrest them. ASAP."  
  
The lieutenants, Brigadier General Marcus and Hawkins armed themselves and went to search. "Nothing." The first lieutenant said. "Neither do I have any evidence." Hawkins looked at the bed and noticed that there was something unusual in it and lashed out a combat knife and cut the linings open. He took a couple of parchments and showed them to the general. He glanced and passed them to an interpreter. The interpreter's faced became terrified and explained that the Nazis were about to assault their camp in 6 hours. "It's execution time for these two scumbags... Guards! Track them down and bring them back to camp for execution! I'll go and free Jim and you can join the team." But Jim halted the brigadier general for a while, "Sir, May I go and give him a little visit?" "All right then, you can go."  
  
Hawkins went to the cell Jim was in, it was rather unfriendly with three solid concrete walls and only a small barred window and the entrance to the cell itself. Jim had a sullen face and was sitting there as if he was doomed for sure. Hawkins told Jim the good news that brightened his face. Suddenly he looked vengeful once more and gave Hawkins two bullets that were for a revolver. Hawkins was the last to go on board the truck, which then pursued the traitors. They were nearing a nearby town when Hawkins heard a familiar voice shouting, "It's them! Run!" And in a second Hawkins knew that voice was none other than the despicable Rick. "Lieutenant, mind if I can use your revolver?" "No problem. Here it is." To the lieutenant's surprise, Hawkins emptied the revolver and put in the two bullets that he had. The truck gained speed when the driver sighted the two traitors running away from them. Hawkins put his torso out of the window and aimed the revolver at them. He pulled the trigger once and aimed again and fired the second time. Joe fell first and Rick was the next to stumble to the ground with a groan after having their legs shot by Hawkins. The soldiers went down the truck and pulled the traitors up the truck without any sign of mercy. The truck sped back camp. Rick and Joe soon found themselves locked up in a cell awaiting their deserved execution.  
  
At dawn, they were led to the execution grounds and they were blindfolded. Some soldiers especially Jim and Hawkins were there to witness the death of the traitors. The commander hollered, "Squad ready!" There were many "Ka-chunk" sounds. "Fire!!" The riflemen pulled the trigger and bullets were driven into the wretched bodies. The minds of Rick and Joe instantly swam into pitch darkness.  
  
As soon as the bodies were dragged away, a panicky private came running and told Brigadier General Marcus that the weak defense spots that were waiting for reinforcements to patch up were being under attack by the Nazis. Several soldiers at the frontline were fiercely fending off the waves of assault led by Nazis.  
  
People shrieked and fell when one or more bullets from the opposite side found its or their way into their bodies, leaving behind a mass of blood splattered in all directions. Some German Panzer and Tiger tanks successfully blasted their way through the borders of the American resistance, only to be blown to pieces by the anti-tank weapons.  
  
After many long hours of nearly endless fighting, the last of the intruders retreated and disappeared in the horizon. The Americans gave a light-hearted cheer when the last few soldiers scampered out of view. The brigadier general gave a sigh and knew that Rick and Joe informed the Nazis about the "gaping holes" in their defenses as all the military personnel were told to cover up the "holes" when any assaults did happen.  
  
"Well, I hope none of you all will follow their footsteps unless you want to have bullets in your bodies. Dismissed." The soldiers went in all directions to their quarters for a good night's sleep after a long fight except for those being treated in the medical camps. Jim lay on his bed with two hands on his head and thought about Rick and Joe framing him. It took him hours of tossing around in bed till he could close his eyes peacefully and dream of his family back in America. 


	9. Rescue

Chapter 8: Rescue  
  
Well listen here soldiers. I suppose you all have heard of the capture of an American pilot whose reconnaissance aircraft was shot down when he spotted an army advancing towards our position. We do not know which route they are taking, so you all are going to go back to the prison you all once were locked in. Jim and Hawkins, I hope you both will prove yourselves useful in this rescue operation, and to all of you, good luck and may God be with you all. A truck will fetch you all at the 5th gate in 0015 hours." Marcus told the 95th company after receiving a radio transmission from a crashed fighter before the pilot was held.  
  
A truck pulled up at the front of the 5th gate and the veterans entered it without a word, only sitting still after boarding it. The truck went past many fields and rumbled across dirt tracks. Hawkins, as the field commander for the operation, gazed at the trees, which the truck passed by. It was afternoon when the truck was nearing the prison which security was tightened after they escaped; the guards already knew that the Americans would come for the pilot who was staring out of the window hopelessly.  
  
The American truck was sighted. The Nazis immediately opened fire, killing the middle-aged driver, which caused the truck to lose control and crashed through the stronghold. The soldiers in the messy lump of metal crawled out of it and returned fire. Jim had his hand cut when he was crawling out of the ruin while Hawkins had a gaze on his shoulder when the cabin was smashed. Jim took out a grenade and hauled it towards the frightened guards. "Bang!" and he threw another. "Bang!" and again "Boom!" The German guards guarding the entrance were wiped out nearly all killed by the three grenades. Some American soldiers were also killed in the crossfire.  
  
The company went into the building that they were quite familiar with. It took a short while of searching and guard slaughtering until they found the pilot in his baggy flying suit sitting at a corner for rescue. By then, a total of seven were killed excluding the driver. Jim took a bunch of keys from a dead guard. The pilot told them that they must make haste of it might be too late to intercept the attackers.  
  
They dashed out of the prison, leaving behind the blood-soaked warehouse. They took a route that was a shortcut to the American camps. The pilot had already made himself handy by grabbing a rifle and a handful of grenades. 


	10. Assault!

Chapter 9: Assault!  
  
The camp's due south. We're closer to it and it should be a few more minutes of running should do it." Hawkins commented as he pointed at the map. Before he could tuck in the compass and map inside his pocket, German soldiers sprang from the nearby bushes and aimed at the foreheads of their targets. The 95th company had no choice but to surrender to the Nazis. Suddenly, after the company raised their hands up high in the air, there was a firefight in a nearby forest where their backup was supposed to be. The Nazis dashed into the forest to be also involved in the exchange of fire against soldiers from unknown side and not so long after, they gave in.  
  
A few soldiers came into the company's view that armed itself when the Nazis plunged into the lush foliage. Hawkins gasped in surprise as he made out the torn and tattered uniform of one of the soldiers in one of the three parachuting companies reported missing. The leader, Franks, gave a warm handshake to Hawkins who was still speechless.  
  
"Your pilot's gone. I saw him running towards the direction of the camp. I'm sure that he will be safe, no need to worry. Don't ask us why we did not return to the camp. They just won't believe us." said the leader who had a cigar in his mouth. He the cigar from his lips and blew smoke at Jim's face, making him cough uncontrollably.  
  
We also knew which way those Nazis are taking, unless you want to return, come help us to intercept the Nazis to hinder them. Tell you what; send at least two soldiers back there to inform the Americans." Jim noticed that the parachuting company had already gone to another town.  
  
The parachute troopers assembled at a thatched wooden cottage. They had messy hairdos and worn-off military gear. Hawkins kept himself fascinated by watching how many times did a soldier with a beret twirled his revolver before putting it down or tucking it in his holster. The commander of the parachute group, Oliver, explained his plan called "Operation Final Fight". He had so many details and formations planned that some had unknowingly dozed off, to wake up and ask the furious commander about the operation.  
  
They had dinner of caned food that was set on steel plates and drunk wine from an abandoned winery. Some were thinking that the sunrise they were going to see the day after could be the last one they would see while others dozed off snugly after downing many glasses of wine. 


	11. Final Fight

Chapter 10: Final Fight  
  
The day had arrived the commander made his last minute talk about the operation. Two snipers were placed at rooftops to take out the first wave of infantry, Jim and Hawkins placed bombs under all the bridges so that when all else fails, the bridges which were the only way the Nazis would advance smoothly would be blown and that could take the Nazis a long time to cross the river as the next bridge was kilometers away unless they could afford to move the heavy tanks across the made up bridges of any kind.  
  
Each soldier took seven petrol bombs made from scavenged cocktail bottles, armed themselves with rifles other than those who were snipers. Jim and Hawkins sneakily laid a total of 15 explosives in the town and covered them with planks of wood that were for demolishing the German tanks. Oliver's bearded looks and with added sunglasses suited the motorcycle and sidecar as his trusted companion, Vincent, sat at the sidecar mounted with a machine gun to take down infantry. Some hid amongst the ruins of houses once bursting with life while others idled behind bunkers built out of sandbags. A soldier was using binoculars to have a lookout for the enemy while squatting on top of a blacksmith's store.  
  
The soldier on lookout suddenly saw a few people dressed in dark uniforms marching in groups and realized that their "Doomsday" has indeed arrived. He was so surprised that he fell down the building and ran across the bridge continuously shouting, "They have come! They have come! Don't sling your guns anymore. Load them! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"  
  
The soldiers indeed were prepared for the worst; all held their weapons tighter and aimed at the entrance where suddenly, some soldiers came into view. Oliver had already planned when to fire when the soldiers came into a boundary marked with two planks of wood put in a cross formation. The German soldiers did not realize this until the nearby enemy killed the first few rows of infantry. They all fired back wildly, killing two of the resistance forces. Some of the Americans lighted the cloth linked to the petrol bombs and flung them towards the maddened enemy, which blew up.  
  
Oliver and his comrade became trigger-happy after speeding towards the Nazis, spraying blood in every corner. Jim accidentally triggered one of the mines that were within the radius of the German infantry, sending them flying around. After minutes of fighting aimlessly, the Nazis regained their wits and went into the blind spots of each American. Some threw grenades into the building where the snipers were and it collapsed, burying them alive.  
  
One of the Nazis threw a grenade inside the house where Jim and Hawkins were. Hawkins quickly grabbed it and "returned" the grenade, causing the German to be blasted to death. Some other Americans were attacked from behind.  
  
Finally, the German Tiger and Panzer tanks rumbled into the town, one of them fired its first shot, causing another house to collapse. A handful soldiers had retreated to the bridges while others threw the last of their petrol bombs into the tank's funnels, blowing the Nazis inside them to death when the artillery inside had a chain reaction when the petrol bombs exploded. The mines Jim and Hawkins laid were effective in dealing with the tanks. Some Americans had their bodies shattered into pieces when they did have enough time to escape. It was bad for Oliver and his comrade when their motorcycle was smashed along with them when it turned over when making a dangerous turn and was crushed by a Tiger tank, which obviously did not bother about them. By then, all the Americans had already retreated towards the bridges. Some soldiers took shelter behind the bunkers as the others ran across the bridge to do the last resort.  
  
Before Jim and Hawkins could even reach the bridge, a Tiger tank fired at their direction, seriously injuring Jim, Hawkins shouted in disbelief as he had already lost Leonard earlier and would be alone if Jim himself dies too. He ran back, dragged Jim across the bridge and laid him against a parapet. "Jim! Are you all right? Listen to me! Jim! Wake up!" All Jim could respond was to cough out blood at Hawkins' face followed by breathing heavily. He raised his hand to stop Hawkins when he took out his first aid kit to heal him. "It is all useless, Hawkins, there is no need to do so."  
  
"But Jim, I cannot leave you like that, you are dying."  
  
"I am, and I am going up there to join Leonard and that pastor we met during the attack of Omaha Beach." Jim pointed towards the sky with his bleeding hand, "When I leave, I do not expect you to shoot yourself later on, okay? You still got a family while they raised Leonard and me as orphans, when you did not notice once before Leonard died, he gave me two letters, one from Simon, and another from himself. Now I want you to pass on three letters, with mine in it. We all had already written them before we even volunteered just in case any of us dies, remember?  
  
"Yeah, we'd also put in small tokens in there."  
  
"Make sure you don't disappoint us. Goodbye, friend."  
  
"Goodbye."  
  
And with that, Jim's head jerked forward and his body never moved again, just sitting there. Hawkins shifted Jim's position into a comfortable one, took three steps back and gave a salute.  
  
The soldiers behind the bunkers were nearly eradicated by the German tanks. The remnants of the resistance finally went across the bridges to safety and took cover behind the seemingly endless rows of buildings. Hawkins, with tears flowing down his cheeks like an ever-flowing river, stood behind the bridge facing the German tanks with a remote control with a vengeful look, ready to blast the bridges and see those wretched German tanks fall into the river and sink into the fierce currents. The tanks moved across steadily, as if Hawkins was transparent.  
  
Before Hawkins could move a muscle, the tanks moving across the bridges that were made of stone, exploded in front of Hawkins. He looked up as if god had helped him, but only saw the American "Tank Killers" drone across the wide sky with low humming of engines.  
  
Hawkins lost his senses and began cheering and laughing as if he was supposed to be in an alyssum. The two soldiers sent to warn the Americans had indeed successfully made contact and so was the pilot. Reinforcements were dispatched when the fighting started; the resistance forces peeped out of the houses and went out cheering in cerebration. Hawkins saw Jim's body and went back to his sad self. He carried the lifeless body and ran towards the reinforcements, which arrived by armored carriers. He ran around hopelessly, crying for at least a medic's attention, three medics rushed towards Hawkins, carried Jim to the carrier and tried their best to revive Jim but to no avail. One of them went out of the carrier and shook his head and comforted Hawkins. Hawkins went to sit at a huge chunk of stone with his hands covering his face and cried in the mist of hurrying soldiers while Jim lay in the shelter of the carrier that was shielding from the sun's piercing rays with a face of ultimate peace and silence. . 


	12. Better Days Ahead

Epilogue: Better Days Ahead  
  
Old Hawkins did the same cry as he did when his second friend passed away. His wife, Karen, comforted him and Hawkins' grandson, Hawkins II handed him two bouquets of roses. Hawkins put the first bouquet of white roses on Leonard's grave and the other on Jim's. Simon's body was never found and people believed that German U-boats sank the vessel his body was on. The pastor's family back in Paris received the letter and regarded him as an all-time hero from then on. Hawkins, now a retired Brigadier General himself stood back and saluted to his friends. The General made his way out of the cemetery along with his family while carrying his grandson.  
  
"Grandpa, are they the best friends you ever had?" Hawkins' grandson asked.  
  
"Oh yes, my son." Replied the old man dressed in his green uniform pinned with many medals for his courageous deeds and service. 


End file.
